


21 December, 1962 (Hanukkah, 1962 Remix)

by IreneADonovan



Series: Remixes 2018 [19]
Category: X-Men (Alternate Timeline Movies)
Genre: Canon Disabled Character, Canon Jewish Character, Charles in a Wheelchair, Hanukkah, M/M, Post-Cuba, Reconciliation
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-13
Updated: 2018-07-13
Packaged: 2019-06-09 19:24:12
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 817
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15274566
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/IreneADonovan/pseuds/IreneADonovan
Summary: Erik returns to the mansion...





	21 December, 1962 (Hanukkah, 1962 Remix)

**Author's Note:**

  * For [afrocurl](https://archiveofourown.org/users/afrocurl/gifts).
  * Inspired by [Hanukkah 1962](https://archiveofourown.org/works/2786066) by [afrocurl](https://archiveofourown.org/users/afrocurl/pseuds/afrocurl). 
  * In response to a prompt by [afrocurl](https://archiveofourown.org/users/afrocurl/pseuds/afrocurl) in the [xmen_remix_madness2018](https://archiveofourown.org/collections/xmen_remix_madness2018) collection. 



Friday, 21 December, 1962. Four days before Christmas. Mere hours before the Winter Solstice. And according to the desk calendar, the first night of Hanukkah.

That made Charles think, unwillingly, of Erik. Where was he? How was he? Had he even given Charles a second thought in the two months since things had gone to hell on a beach in Cuba?

Charles had thought these questions many times since then. He'd had far too much time to think, immobile, trapped, numb from the waist down.

He'd been home a bare two weeks, his shattered spine still mending after two surgeries. He was still barely mobile, feeling ungainly and awkward in the wheelchair, still too weak to stay out of bed for more than a few hours a day.

Moira and the boys, but especially Hank with his new strength, were going above and beyond, tending to his physical needs matter-of-factly, no matter how embarrassed he himself got.

Still it was a somber household as the holidays approached. Sean and Alex had secured (stolen?) a tree, then decorated it with ornaments they'd found in the attic, a homely, mismatched collection undoubtedly left behind by a servant – nothing his mother would have approved of, but perfect for this ragtag little family.

No one spoke of their two missing members.

Charles sensed a presence outside, approaching swiftly on foot. Erik, minus that damned helmet. He glanced toward the windows, then turned, a little clumsily, and wheeled toward them.

Erik had levitated himself up to Charles' eye level by the time Charles reached the glass. He held up a sign. “Let me in. Please.”

Charles managed to open the sash, but he held up a hand before Erik could enter. “What the hell do you want?”

Erik looked taken aback; clearly he hadn't expected Charles to deny him entry. “We need to talk.”

The midwinter air was frigid, even on a clear afternoon, and Charles didn't want to leave it open any longer. “Fine. Come in,” he said grudgingly as he moved back.

Erik twisted his body through the opening, closed the window behind him with a flick of his powers, turned to look at Charles. His face fell as he took in the wheelchair. “Tell me that's not because of me,” he said, voice a pleading whisper.

Charles looked away.

Erik fell to his knees in front of Charles. “Why didn't you tell me, there on the beach?” He set his hands on Charles' unfeeling thighs, and Charles saw those hands squeeze.

“I didn't want you to stay out of some sense of obligation,” Charles answered. “”Out of guilt. Out of pity.”

“I could never pity you.”

Charles wanted to believe him. “So what do you want?”

“I missed you. I never should have left.”

“No. You shouldn't have. So why now?”

“Emma,” Erik admitted. “She said she was tired of my moping around after you. Said it was giving her a headache.”

“I'm surprised you let her get away with saying something like that.”

“Emma does whatever she damned well wants, no matter what I think.” Erik's voice softened. “Besides, she was right.”

“So you've been pining away after me?”

“Yes, damnit. Emma says I've been driving her crazy for weeks.”

“I wonder why she waited, then.”

“She hoped it would fade. It didn't.”

“I had hoped for the same thing,” Charles admitted. “But I fear I cannot banish you from my heart so easily, no matter how much my head might wish it so.”

“You, you still want me?”

“If you'll have me.”

“Why on Earth wouldn't I?” Erik followed Charles' gaze to the wheelchair. “For that?”

“I'm not who I was,” Charles said tiredly. “I'm still looking at months of rehabilitation, maybe another surgery, and none of it will give me my legs back.” His voice dropped to a whisper. “Or my cock.”

Erik was clearly unsettled, but he rallied. “You think that's what matters to me.” He leaned forward, cupped Charles' law in his hands, kissed him slow and deep, then sat back on his heels. “I came back for _you_. If all I get to do for the next fifty years is kiss you like that, I'm good.”

Charles couldn't help it; he burst into tears.

Erik wrapped him in those long, strong arms and held him until the tears abated.

“I'm sorry,” Charles said once he could speak again. “My emotions are just really close to the surface right now.”

“Mine, too, at least one.” Erik's hand slid through Charles' hair, and his breath was soft against Charles' ear as he spoke. “I love you, Charles. I love you, and I'm never going to leave you again.”

Charles snuggled against Erik's solid chest. “I love you, too. And you picked the perfect night to return.”

“How's that?”

“It's the first night of Hanukkah. And you just gave me the best gift I've ever gotten.”


End file.
